Microalbuminuria in type 1 diabetes mellitus children in University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Nigeria.

Introduction: glycaemic control is usually best achieved using the basal bolus regimen, however, this is not always available in resource-limited settings. Long-term complications like renal parenchymal disease are consequences of poor glycaemic control. Screening type 1 diabetes patients irrespective of their disease duration was used to buttress the need for ethical principles of justice to be incorporated in the care of type 1 diabetes children.

Methods: urine albumin creatinine ratio (UAC) was calculated for 20 type 1 diabetes mellitus children in the endocrinology clinic after submitting early morning urine over a 4-month period. The calculated ratio was compared between duration of disease (< 5 years and > 5 years) and between insulin regimen types (mixtard and basal bolus). Repeat tests were done for children who had elevated UAC ratio levels after 2 months.

Results: there were 5 males and 15 females and the mean UAC ratio of the cohort was 123mg/g with a range of 5.30 - 906 mg/g. Twelve children (8 diagnosed less than 5 years) had UAC ratio ≥ 30mg/g with a mean of 193.15. The repeat mean UAC ratio for these was 144.35 mg/g. Children who had diabetes for more than 5 years and were on mixtard had higher UAC ratio than those with diabetes < 5 years and on basal bolus.

Conclusion: the prevalence of microalbuminuria is high in our cohort of type 1 diabetes children and these were children on mixtard and had diabetes greater than 5 years.